Rome, Open City (1945)
QFS No. 174 - Oddly, this is our first QFS selection of a Roberto Rossellini film. One of the filmmakers who inspired Martin Scorsese (and whose daughter Isabella Rossellini was once married to Scorsese) and a pioneer of Italian post-war neorealist movement, his films have for some reason eluded our esteemed selection committee of excellence.
Devdas (2002)
QFS No. 171 - Devdas is probably the apex Bollywood film, the type of film that screams “Bollywood!” especially if you’re not from India and you think “what makes up a Bollywood film.” The most Bollywood of Bollywood films.
The Seed of the Sacred Fig (2024)
QFS No. 168 -The Seed of the Sacred Fig has been on my list since I saw a riveting trailer and have read a little bit about the film. Shot in secrecy in Tehran, this will be our second film from Iran, after the terrific A Separation (2011, QFS No. 49), directed by Asghar Farhadi.
Chungking Express (1994)
QFS No. 162 - Happy New Year! We resolve to watch movies and argue about them in a constructive manner!
Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964)
QFS No. 161 - Yes, Umbrellas of Cherbourg (`964) may not seem like a holiday classic. But it very well could be!
Princess Mononoke (1997)
QFS No. 157 - We are all long overdue to be taken away to a different land. At least for a couple of hours. And there’s perhaps no one better suited to take us elsewhere than the Japanese master of animation, Hayao Miyazaki.
Ali: Fear Eats the Soul (1974)
QFS No. 154 - Rainer Werner Fassbinder is one of those filmmakers whose work I, as film snob and student of film, should have seen. But instead, I pretend I know about Fassbinder – of course I do. I went to film school, you see.
Godzilla Minus One (2023)
QFS No. 151 - This is the first kaiju film selected by Quarantine Film Society. Kaiju, of course, is the film subgenre in which giant monsters destroy things. I think it’s amazing that what seems like a very limited type of film has a named subgenre, but this is where I’m wrong. There are tons of these movies and television shows varying in quality in the 70 years since Godzilla (1954) came out from Japan. I’m certainly no expert on these films, but I do enjoy a good giant animal picture now and again.
Kaagaz Ke Phool (1959)
QFS No. 147 - Kaagaz Ke Phool – which translates to “Paper Flowers” – is known as one of the great films from the Golden Age of Hindi Cinema.
Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010)
QFS No. 143 - There are a lot of great things about this movie even if you don’t know about it at all, just as I don’t. First, look at that title! It’s our second longest QFS selection title after Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, QFS No. 98).
Black Girl (1966)
QFS No. 141 - Black Girl will be our first ever selection from Senegal, and our first selection of a film by Ousmane Semebene. Sembene is considered the “dean” or father of African cinema. Did I know this before? No. Am I ashamed of that? Yes.
20 Days in Mariupol (2023)
QFS No. 135- Long time QFS members know that we rarely select documentary films due to a long-standing bias against them within the ranks of our QFS Council of Excellence. This is only our third documentary selection.
Black Narcissus (1947)
QFS No. 131 - Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell are the powerhouse directing duo from England whose legendary work includes The Red Shoes (1948, QFS No. 52), The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), 49th Parallel (1941), The Tales of Hoffmann (1951), and of course this week’s selection The Black Narcissus. I’ve only scratched the surface myself with their career work but everything I’ve seen has been incredibly impressive.
The Color of Pomegranates (1969)
QFS No. 130 - Martin Scorsese compared The Color of Pomegranates (1969) to “opening a door and walking into another dimension, where time has stopped and beauty has been unleashed.” I am here and ready to walk into another dimension.
The Seventh Seal (1957)
QFS No. 127 - Sweden’s legendary director Ingmar Bergman is one of those essential filmmakers whose work you’re required to familiarize yourself with if you go to film school and intend to be a director. And with good reason. His films are deeply empathetic and explore what it means to be human in a style that I would characterize as part of the Neorealist movement that swept through post-war Europe.
This is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection (2019)
QFS No. 124 - I know this will come as a shock to many of you, but this will be our first Quarantine Film Society selection from Lesotho. The country has about 2 million people – which is, I believe, still smaller than what the population of Los Angeles would be if the San Fernando Valley succession happened in 2002.
Rocco and His Brothers (1960)
QFS No. 122 from September 27, 2023 - Another Italian film, you say? Well, you longtime members of QFS will remember that Sharat is making his way through the film requirements he was supposed to be have finished before beginning as a grad student at the American Film Institute.
Honeyland (2019)
QFS No. 5 - In keeping with the randomness of the movie selection, it’s time to switch gears and watch a documentary feature film because who’s there to stop us? Though I’ve made a few of them, I’ve never selected a documentary to watch in any of the predecessor film societies before QFS. But Honeyland (2019) I’ve had on my watch list from last year so I figured why not.
Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
QFS No. 2 - As perhaps with you, “thunderdome” is my stand by phrase for anything that has no rules with chaos as its only governing principle and where destruction is the norm. It entered the zeitgeist after this film and entered our collective lexicon even if you haven’t seen the movie. Related point – if you come to our home you will see that we have our fenced-in children play area in our main room that we have dubbed “Baby Thunderdome.” No holds barred, very few rules and the only directive is “to survive.” So far, both children have. But for how long?
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
QFS No. 1 - The invitation from April 29, 2020: SR Note: This email invitation contains the QFS origin story - our first ever email sent out to the group that would become Quarantine Film Society. The format became slightly more standardized as we went along. Enjoy.